8 Ways to Improve Worker Safety in Offshore Aquaculture

It should come as no surprise that open ocean aquaculture is a high-risk industry thought to rival fishing and forestry in terms of work-related injuries and fatalities (although definitive data is hard to come by).

Working on and in the ocean, usually in remote areas, is inherently dangerous. So safety needs to be at the forefront at any fish farm. Here are eight ways an offshore aquaculture operation can minimize hazards and protect its employees.

Management Practices

All of the items on this list are essential components for farm safety, but the commitment of management to safety through clear communication, including implicit messaging, is critical to their effectiveness. Safety protocols need to be clear, reality-based and continually reviewed and updated by all the relevant stakeholders, most importantly those performing the actual work offshore. Resources need to be committed to implement best practices with safety at the forefront – not as an afterthought for insurance purposes.

Actions speak louder than words here. Weekly emails or discussions about safety in the workplace are meaningless if employees are being rewarded for successful but hazardous operations that save on short-term costs. Industries like open ocean aquaculture typically attract risk tolerant individuals who, if operating in an environment where dangerous behavior is incentivized either directly or indirectly, will act accordingly.

Proper Protective Equipment

Life vests, hard hats, closed toed shoes and so forth all sound like a no brainer for employees working offshore, but attention to details and recognition of the realities of the specific work environment are necessary to actually mitigating dangers. The highest quality safety equipment is useless if it impedes movement or is uncomfortable in the working environment – and therefore is often ditched at the first opportunity by employees. On the flipside, low quality gear not intended for the specific environmental conditions create an obvious risk. For example, fire extinguishers intended for climate-controlled buildings on land will quickly corrode and become inoperable at a remote farm site.

Training

Consistent training is necessary to refine employee skills, refresh best practices and commit safety procedures to muscle memory. An added bonus is that training incentivizes employees by providing resume building skills. Training needs to be tailored to the reality of the job and environment. Learning about the hazards of asbestos might be critical to an onshore facilities manager or construction team but mostly irrelevant for the offshore operations team. Likewise Advanced Open Water SCUBA certification is probably unnecessary for the onshore staff. That said, cross-training to help all employees understand and reduce risks in emergency situations is extremely valuable.

Regular Equipment Maintenance

The best personal protective equipment, training and safety protocols are ineffective if crews are working on inadequate vessels or with poorly maintained equipment. A trustworthy engine can be the difference between life and death on the ocean. Similarly, proper maintenance and inspection of dive gear is critical. Employees should be well trained in detecting faults in equipment and feel empowered to report them and resolve them before continuing duties. This includes safety equipment as well. Employees should confirm daily that oxygen tanks, first-aid kits, emergency flares, fire extinguishers and radios are functional before leaving the dock.

Emergency Procedures

Standard emergency operating procedures cannot account for all of the possible threats workers will encounter offshore. However, if properly constructed they will provide a solid foundation for effectively minimizing danger and handling most incidents.  In order to be effective, standard emergency operating procedures should be drilled and practiced regularly by staff, not merely discussed in a PowerPoint or distributed in an employee handbook. Furthermore, they need to be regularly reviewed and updated by all relevant stakeholders to reflect the reality of the workplace environment.

Engineering Controls

Open ocean aquaculture is still a nascent industry and the available technology is quickly advancing to meet the challenges of the environment. Technological advances in feeding, harvesting, mortality collection, bathing and pen cleaning not only make operations more efficient but also safer. Wireless environmental sensors, for example, can report and relay ocean data automatically, allowing operations managers to adjust protocols and plans according to offshore conditions. Incentivizing the adoption of safer technologies throughout the industry would help many operations managers justify the upfront cost of adopting new technologies.

Incident Tracking System

Understanding risks in aquaculture is made more difficult by the lack of consistent incident reporting data throughout the industry. Strict global best practices that require standardized incident tracking and reporting would help incentivize operators to collect and disseminate information. However, enforcement and verification of the information is crucial to be effective. Within organizations, a standardized incident tracking database is critical for documenting hazardous procedures and understanding how best to try and mitigate those risks.

Company Culture

Company culture is often thought about in the context of business strategy, marketing and human resources, but it is also critical to workplace safety. Companies should work to create a culture of pride in getting the job done efficiently in the safest way possible – rather than completing an under-resourced operation no matter what it takes. Hiring employees who are committed to those values and rewarding existing employees who adhere to those standards will help cultivate that culture. Managers should encourage honest feedback about incidents or broader safety concerns so that issues are regularly brought up and discussed and the farm can continually improve their safety protocols.

Conclusion

As a burgeoning global industry, aquaculture safety standards vary depending on the country of operation as well as local, provincial or state requirements. Specific insurance providers may further have their own safety mandates that need to be followed. These are great resources that will get better refined and standardized as the industry grows. In addition, technological innovations like the ones being pioneered by Innovasea are also helping make the fish farming operations safer and reducing dangers offshore.

But paying attention to the eight areas above is vital to making offshore aquaculture safer for workers. With a focused effort on risk mitigation from everyone in the industry – from the top down – as well as evolving safety standards and innovative technology, working in ocean-based aquaculture can hopefully become as safe as typical agricultural activities.